Twelve days. That’s all it took for one of the world’s most advanced missile defence systems to feel the weight of war. Somewhere over Israel, in the dark sky lit up by alarms and streaks of fire, America’s THAAD batteries stood guard. Twelve days. That’s all it took for one of the world’s most advanced missile defence systems to feel the weight of war. Somewhere over Israel, in the dark sky lit up by alarms and streaks of fire, America’s THAAD batteries stood guard.